Saruman's Revenge
by Abysmal
Summary: After the battle of Helms Deep Saruman craves revenge on the commander that bested him. So he does so the only way he knows, through stealth.
1. Prologue

Saruman's Revenge.

Fiction Rating ; T.

Summary: The battle of helms deep may be over but Saruman does not give up so easily. He attempts to gain his revenge on the commander that bested him the only way he knows how: through stealth.

Disclaimer: Anything vaguely recognisable in this story belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and his heirs, and anybody else who owns copyright. I am not writing this fan fiction for gain but for personal enjoyment and no money is being gained from the publishing of this work.

A/N: phew, now that that's out the way, on with the story, I hope you enjoy it. The timeline is the night after the Battle of Helm Deep had been won, but they have not left to visit Treebeard. Any reviews, comments, and suggestions for improvement are more that welcome!

-X-

In the uppermost window of Orthanc a light glimmered in the gloom, reflecting off the water at the feet of Treebeard. He looked up and sighed, though he did not mind helping Gandalf, and guarding Saruman for him he hated the feel of the dirty water on his feet. The filth of the wizard will not so easily be cleansed, and though the great tower stood alone in a field of ruin Treebeard still felt uneasy. He remembered Saruman from the ages past and _never_ had the wizard given anything up with out a fight. The battle at Helms Deep may have been won but the control of the wizard was still great. Standing still in the water; Treebeard was worried.

-X-

On an arch high above the water two hobbits slept fitfully. Their dreams were plagued with snatches of movement which they could not see to blend into a single shape, and laughter, at the streaks of red that appeared when the movement got too close.

-X-

In a bed in a high tower deep inside the fortress of Helms Deep, Gimli woke with a start. Looking wildly around him he met the eyes of an equally frightened Legolas.

'Anything wrong laddie?' asked Gimli carefully.

Legolas' eyes if possible widened even more; he managed to stutter, without much preamble or explanation what he was talking about;

'I felt so… so _good_, I enjoyed it Gimli! How could I have enjoyed it?' Gimli however had just seen the same thing so could answer-

'Enjoyed killing him you mean? But it was only a dream.'

'How do know? You cannot know.'

'Legolas I had the same dream as you. Was I not in your dream? For you were in mine.'

'Yes you were. You were there with me; you helped me before I…I…' Legolas started sobbing.

'Before you took out a knife and plunged it into his abdomen. I saw him lie there in a pool of blood and _die_. And I laughed Legolas. How could I have _laughed_?' Gimli spoke quickly with disgust, needing to get the images out of his system. However telling Legolas did not seem to have helped. It just made it seem more real.

flashback

The high ceiling in the stone chamber echoed with a scream, and blood spread across the tiles. Gimli looked down at the dying man and laughed. 'May we never meet again, _filth'_ he sneered, ignoring the accusation in the mans eyes,. Kicking the man hard in his wound and eliciting another scream, he slapped Legolas on the back, congratulating him, and with the Elf walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.

end flashback

Gimli shivered. Finally he diverted his attention to the object that Legolas was staring at with such absolute horror. He looked at it too and could not see what had so shocked Legolas. It was just an empty bed. And then it hit him, there should be someone in that bed, and it was then that Legolas spoke again:

'He isn't in his bed! Sweet Eru, what if it was not a dream? It felt so very real! I killed him Gimli, I killed my best friend!'

-X-

I bet you all know who it is by now… but the question is… is he still alive? evil cackle you will just have to wait till the next chapter to find out!

Soo love it? Hate it? I don't mind as long as you review. I swear I will reply.


	2. A Choice

Disclaimer: Anything vaguely recognisable in this story belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and his heirs, and anybody else who owns copyright. I am not writing this fan fiction for gain but for personal enjoyment and no money is being gained from the publishing of this work.

A/N: for the record, and to make things a bit easier Saruman has dark blue eyes ok?

Also I hope that you are enjoying this so far; if you are not, have any changes that you would like to suggest etc. etc. please review, so that I can attempt to make them. I have decided against the type of Legolas that does not seem to eat very much. In this story he might end up eating a lot. I will shut up and let you read on.

-X-

Chapter two: the hardest question.

Whilst Gimli and Legolas were staring at the empty bed and trying to remember if they had attempted to kill the occupant, the door to the chamber swung open and Aragorn strode in. Due to the many years he had spent in the wild following orcs and other servants of Mordor, he could move silently and so he crept behind the two friends and said loudly:

'Never have I seen anyone so interested in my bed, even Elladan and Elrohir when they were planning a prank, so you will let me into the secret surely?'

At the sound of his voice Gimli openly jumped and Legolas barely managed to suppress a shudder that raced through his body.

'You're alive!' Gimli spoke with relief and Legolas sagged against the bedpost; the tension left his body and the burden he felt on his heart lightened slightly.

'Yes, though that statement is more suited to the field of battle that to a bedroom!' Aragorn laughed,

'You did not seem nearly so pleased to see me after we fought the Uruks, and that was far more dangerous that lying on that bed, but tell me; have you found out that that bed eats the unwary that sleep on it?'

He tried to lighten the atmosphere and for Gimli it certainly worked, he gave a low chuckle and spoke;

'Yes, so when we saw that you were gone we were worried that the bed had eaten you and were debating the best way to get you out!'

Legolas however continued to stare at the Ranger with something bordering on disbelief and it was obvious that he wanted to try and touch him to see if he was real.

'But come,' continued Aragorn 'they are holding a council in the great hall, and fascinating as my bed undoubtedly is, we have all been summoned to attend.'

-X-

They were the last ones to enter the chamber before the council began and quickly seated themselves in chairs at the back. The hall was lined with torches which cast a flickering light over all who stood there. It full of both leaders and troops; some leaned against high carven pillars whilst others reclined on chairs, and all were looking to the top of the hall. There sat Théoden, Eomer and Gandalf behind a long table of dark wood, it was so polished that the top seemed to be filled with water that reflected the three men as they looked around the room. There was one other empty seat at the table meant rather obviously for Aragorn who ignoring it shifted his chair to be more in the shadows at the back.

Then Théoden stood and proclaimed:

'Thank you all for attending, though some of us apparently deemed this meeting was below them and had to be fetched', here Théoden cast a look at Legolas and Gimli who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

'We gather today in celebration, for though our losses have been great we have triumphed over one who had wished the end of us all'

This statement was greeted with loud cheers and shouts of 'down with the wizard!'

At this point Gandalf stood and cleared his throat, the word 'wizard' seemed to have struck a chord.

'Friends and fellow warriors, though the victory has been great and deserved by all who fought,' again there was much shouting and stamping 'I have known Saruman for two thousand years and never has he so lightly conceded defeat even when he was not openly consorting with evil! Be on your guard for he will not openly attack again but attempt rather through stealth to make us collapse from within.'

This was greeted with prolonged muttering, Gandalf's warning put a dampener on things and the men of Rohan did not like the sound of things collapsing from within.

In the gloom of the hall nobody had noticed that Eomers' normally light brown eyes had changed to dark blue.

-X-

When the meeting had finally finished the three companions walked to the ramparts. Legolas was still wary after his dream of the previous night, and was for his part glad that Aragorn was wearing a mail shirt still. That way he felt that the human was in less danger, and if he did indeed attempt to kill Aragorn in the way he saw in his dream he would have a hard time trying to get his blade through the closely woven metal links.

They walked for long and talked about many things, but always Aragorn felt a wariness in his friends that had began there ever since he had entered their chambers that morning. Although he had a fairly good notion of what the matter was, he did not press things, so they continued in a semblance of normalcy until the evening meal.

-X-

Legolas had, contrary to all expectations of Elves eating light and needing little food, enjoyed his meals with a relish that would have seemed more suited to hobbits, but at this time he pushed his food around his plate and only attempted a few mouthfuls before staring desolately at Aragorn. He had in fact slapped Aragorn on the shoulder several times during the day, and so was entirely sure that he was real, but Legolas just could not get the image of Aragorn lying on the floor, out of his head.

Gimli on the other hand almost forgotten about the nightmare of the night before and was rather enjoying himself. He chatted to Eomer and if he noticed something odd about his mood he said nothing, accounting it to the aftermath of the battle.

-X-

After the meal Legolas retired to bed first. This was remarkable in itself as Elves do not need to sleep as much as humans, but what was more surprising was that the 'sturdy dwarf' that never admitted to being tired suddenly announced that he was and also went to bed far before anyone else. When Aragorn had finally followed them up both seemed to be asleep. Gimli was lying on his side with his eyes tightly shut and seemed to be muttering about gold and caves, whilst Legolas stared at the ceiling with open unseeing eyes. He slept in the fashion of the elves. Aragorn quickly slipped into his bed and rolled over. Soon he was asleep he did not wake until the morning.

-X-

When Aragorn did wake he was surprised to see both Gimli and Legolas staring at him as if this was the first time that they have ever seen him. Understanding suddenly struck him and he said;

'Follow me.'

Legolas and Gimli shared glances of surprise but did not object. Certainly Aragorn had always known what he was doing before; they did however notice that he took his hunting knife with him. He led them along corridors deeper and deeper into the great fortress until they came at last to a room with a high window and a beam of sunlight shining through it. Gimli was quietly astonished at the man who had spent exactly the same amount of time inside Helms Deep, but seemed to know so much more about it.

Legolas meanwhile was staring round the room in undisguised horror, it was the room from his dream and the sun was beaming through the window at exactly the same angle. He pinched himself to make sure that he was awake. The pain testified to it and he started backing towards the door. He did not want to see his nightmare become reality.

'Do not leave yet Legolas, there is something we must do first' said Aragorn and the queer note in his voice made both Legolas and Gimli look sharply at him.

Aragorn took the knife out of its sheath and advanced on them, his eyes glinted and Legolas suddenly felt afraid, but he did not back away. Then unexpectedly Legolas felt the handle of a knife shoved into his hand, his fingers clasped around it.

Aragorn stepped back into the beam of light, he seemed to be covered in gold, the pendant around his neck sparkled but otherwise he was free of adornment and was wearing only the shirt and leggings he slept in.

'Kill me Legolas'

Legolas stood shell-shocked 'wh...what?'

'Kill me as you have felt that you wanted to'

There was no mail coat to protect Aragorn now. Legolas gulped. From the side Gimli looked on terrified.

Legolas took a step closer to Aragorn. His grey eyes met with Legolas' blue ones and there was understanding and pity in them.

Legolas raised his knife...

TBC

Heh heh another evil ending, I'm sorry to do this to you again but hey.

To my wonderful reviewers **THANK YOU!**

**Ana**: I have attempted to make this chapter a bit longer.. other than that thanks I'm glad you like it.

**Mairi**ok no more flashbacks, I hope it does end up being interesting.

A big thanks also to:

**Kaylee716**

And

**Estelstheone.**

Who have put the story on their alert list.

So to all you others go on click the review button!


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